Summary of Police Report, raid on blind pig at 9123 12th, 3:45-4:45AM, July 23, 1967
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Part of Summary of the Police Report, raid at 9123 12th, 3:45-4:45AM, July 23, 1967
Title
Summary of Police Report, raid on blind pig at 9123 12th, 3:45-4:45AM, July 23, 1967
extracted text
....
Summary of tlne Report of Sgt. Arthur Howison,
lOth Precinct Clean-up Squad, on r a id at
9123 12th, 3:45 to <1:·!5 A. 1\'I., J uly 23, 1967
9123 12th is a commercial build ing on the wes t
v
s ·de of 12th, just north
of Clairmount.
Immediately to the north ·s a fenced-:n playgrou nd.
Behind the building is
an alley extend 'ng north from Cla'rmount and dead-ending at the playground fence. ·
There had been a previous raid on a bli.nd pig at this locat' on in which Sgt.
Howison had participated, There had been complaints from neighbors about the ope rat on of
the current blind pig, and on the night of July 23 such a complaint was reg stered on
the
clean-up complaint book at the lOth Precinct Station. As a result, it was arranged that a
policeman wo.uld go to the blind p:g and purchase liquor after hours in order toprov de
evidence.
Police arrived on the scene at approximately 3:45 A.M. , as the disguised polleeman had already entered the blind pig and made his purbhase. In the clean-itp squad car
4
was Sgt. Howison together with two other officers (one white, one Negro). Accompanying
them was a marked, 3-man crusier. A sergeant with 3 men on the beat happened to be
in the immediate vicinity and accompanied them.
Sgt. Howison and his two clean-up squad men entered through the front door.
and declared that all persons were under arrest. There were 83 persons :n the blind p ig,
much more than the anticipated 35 to 40. As a result, Sgt. Howison radioed for 3 more
patrol wagons, in addition to the one which was arriving just as the clean-up squad entreed the
blind pig.
Sgt. Howison made the decision both to enter and to take o4t the prisoners through
the front door on 12th Street., for several reasons •. Fir~t of all, heknew that the back door
was a steel fire door and padlocked. Hence it would be extrel}lely diff!cult to make entry from
the rear. Second, the alley leading to thre rear door dead-ended immed' ately north of
9123 12th, and therefore any patrol
wagon in tlB. t alley could easily be cut off from the
street by a vehicle parked at the mouth of the alley on Clairmount. Moreover,
t would
have been cumbersome and time: consuming to move each _patrol wagon out of the alley
and then back another in while load' ng prisoners.
While enter ng the building, Sgt. Howison noted relat vely 1 ght streets: crowds,
probably notmore than a dozen persons at the corm r of 12th and Clairmount.
There was a considerable delay follow ·ng the initial arrest unt"l the 3 extra
patrol
~
wagons arrived. Most precincts, eJx when a request is made of them to
prov~de
a patrol wagon, have to take men off the street, and this takes time. Th·s delay consumed
20 to 25 minutes, according to Sgt. Howison. During this time, he and his men were hoHing
the 83 persons prisoner on the secodd floor of 9123 12th. (There was a front door at street
level and another door at the head of the front
stairaway. From the second floor, there was
an open stairway leadingt to the padlocked steel rear door.)
'..
- ""'
....
t
-· .
During the dealay, a conside rable crowd, apparently attracted by the scout car,
gathe red. It grew eve'n larger as the wagons arrived. Such large crowds are apparently normal
on 12th Steeet, even at such a late hour. The crowd was noisy, but not hostile at first. It
grew more abusive as time went on and prisoners were loaded. Bottles and rocks were thrown.
This
was the first time that this had happened in Sgt. Howison's eA'])erience, although' other
officers have reported similar receptions. The back window of the police crumer was knocked
out by a bottle or rokk.
Before the first wagon was loaded, Sgt. Howison reports that one of the prisoners
said, "Nobody's going." However, one man did step forward, andthe rest walked out docilely,
as directed by police officers. As they walked between the building entrance and the door of
the police wagon, the pr!soners were shouting to the cro·wd, more jovially than belligerently,
Sgt. Howison reports.
Howison and his men confisca.ted
sample bottles, including the partially-drained bottle
of beer purchased by the undercover police officer. They took this evidence with them as they
departed at the same time as the last wagon, at some time between 4:30 and 4:45 A, M. Thus
the whole episode took an hour or less.
Sgt. Howison emphatically reports that there was no case of any prisoner resisting
arrest. There was no instance of any policeman taking any steps to subdue any
of the prisoners.
There was no treatment of any kii1d whatsoever that could possibly be called pol ce brutality•.
There were no writs .served on the prisoners. The 3 men beJ!eved to be the owners
or agencts of too owlll!lrs were held on charges on engaging in an illegal occupations. The re-
' see if they should
mainder were classif'ed as loiterers, and their records were checked to
be held because of other violations. One man was held for violat·on of probation, and 7 or 8
perosns(2 of them women) were held for tai.iiOO past due traffic violat' ons. The other 71 or 72
prisoners were released without charges. About one-third of the prisoners wecff tR'~JgeWe~Rl=be\'d?
The state of the cro wd as Sgt. Howison left 12th and Clairmount was abusive,
loud, and hostile. Men were throwing pop bottles and rocks. About 20 to 25 per cent of the
crowd were women, but these were . quiet, and them men seemed to be responsible for all
the commotion.
At about the time wqen the additional patrol wagons had arrived, Sgt. Howiosn had
radioed for more assistance. As a result, Ebautx 8 or 9 other scout cars had arrived at the
scnene. Men from the scout cars were holding people "loff the pavement and away from the
blind pig and the patrol wagons. These acars were left at the same as Howicson departed.
He had not seen any scuffling, nor had he noticed anything unusual enough to believe that
anything
fu~ther
would come of this situation. At the station, Howison and his men were
occupied w:th paper work for two hours and were away from
no knowledge of how th e situation developed •
police radios, and so had
Summary of tlne Report of Sgt. Arthur Howison,
lOth Precinct Clean-up Squad, on r a id at
9123 12th, 3:45 to <1:·!5 A. 1\'I., J uly 23, 1967
9123 12th is a commercial build ing on the wes t
v
s ·de of 12th, just north
of Clairmount.
Immediately to the north ·s a fenced-:n playgrou nd.
Behind the building is
an alley extend 'ng north from Cla'rmount and dead-ending at the playground fence. ·
There had been a previous raid on a bli.nd pig at this locat' on in which Sgt.
Howison had participated, There had been complaints from neighbors about the ope rat on of
the current blind pig, and on the night of July 23 such a complaint was reg stered on
the
clean-up complaint book at the lOth Precinct Station. As a result, it was arranged that a
policeman wo.uld go to the blind p:g and purchase liquor after hours in order toprov de
evidence.
Police arrived on the scene at approximately 3:45 A.M. , as the disguised polleeman had already entered the blind pig and made his purbhase. In the clean-itp squad car
4
was Sgt. Howison together with two other officers (one white, one Negro). Accompanying
them was a marked, 3-man crusier. A sergeant with 3 men on the beat happened to be
in the immediate vicinity and accompanied them.
Sgt. Howison and his two clean-up squad men entered through the front door.
and declared that all persons were under arrest. There were 83 persons :n the blind p ig,
much more than the anticipated 35 to 40. As a result, Sgt. Howison radioed for 3 more
patrol wagons, in addition to the one which was arriving just as the clean-up squad entreed the
blind pig.
Sgt. Howison made the decision both to enter and to take o4t the prisoners through
the front door on 12th Street., for several reasons •. Fir~t of all, heknew that the back door
was a steel fire door and padlocked. Hence it would be extrel}lely diff!cult to make entry from
the rear. Second, the alley leading to thre rear door dead-ended immed' ately north of
9123 12th, and therefore any patrol
wagon in tlB. t alley could easily be cut off from the
street by a vehicle parked at the mouth of the alley on Clairmount. Moreover,
t would
have been cumbersome and time: consuming to move each _patrol wagon out of the alley
and then back another in while load' ng prisoners.
While enter ng the building, Sgt. Howison noted relat vely 1 ght streets: crowds,
probably notmore than a dozen persons at the corm r of 12th and Clairmount.
There was a considerable delay follow ·ng the initial arrest unt"l the 3 extra
patrol
~
wagons arrived. Most precincts, eJx when a request is made of them to
prov~de
a patrol wagon, have to take men off the street, and this takes time. Th·s delay consumed
20 to 25 minutes, according to Sgt. Howison. During this time, he and his men were hoHing
the 83 persons prisoner on the secodd floor of 9123 12th. (There was a front door at street
level and another door at the head of the front
stairaway. From the second floor, there was
an open stairway leadingt to the padlocked steel rear door.)
'..
- ""'
....
t
-· .
During the dealay, a conside rable crowd, apparently attracted by the scout car,
gathe red. It grew eve'n larger as the wagons arrived. Such large crowds are apparently normal
on 12th Steeet, even at such a late hour. The crowd was noisy, but not hostile at first. It
grew more abusive as time went on and prisoners were loaded. Bottles and rocks were thrown.
This
was the first time that this had happened in Sgt. Howison's eA'])erience, although' other
officers have reported similar receptions. The back window of the police crumer was knocked
out by a bottle or rokk.
Before the first wagon was loaded, Sgt. Howison reports that one of the prisoners
said, "Nobody's going." However, one man did step forward, andthe rest walked out docilely,
as directed by police officers. As they walked between the building entrance and the door of
the police wagon, the pr!soners were shouting to the cro·wd, more jovially than belligerently,
Sgt. Howison reports.
Howison and his men confisca.ted
sample bottles, including the partially-drained bottle
of beer purchased by the undercover police officer. They took this evidence with them as they
departed at the same time as the last wagon, at some time between 4:30 and 4:45 A, M. Thus
the whole episode took an hour or less.
Sgt. Howison emphatically reports that there was no case of any prisoner resisting
arrest. There was no instance of any policeman taking any steps to subdue any
of the prisoners.
There was no treatment of any kii1d whatsoever that could possibly be called pol ce brutality•.
There were no writs .served on the prisoners. The 3 men beJ!eved to be the owners
or agencts of too owlll!lrs were held on charges on engaging in an illegal occupations. The re-
' see if they should
mainder were classif'ed as loiterers, and their records were checked to
be held because of other violations. One man was held for violat·on of probation, and 7 or 8
perosns(2 of them women) were held for tai.iiOO past due traffic violat' ons. The other 71 or 72
prisoners were released without charges. About one-third of the prisoners wecff tR'~JgeWe~Rl=be\'d?
The state of the cro wd as Sgt. Howison left 12th and Clairmount was abusive,
loud, and hostile. Men were throwing pop bottles and rocks. About 20 to 25 per cent of the
crowd were women, but these were . quiet, and them men seemed to be responsible for all
the commotion.
At about the time wqen the additional patrol wagons had arrived, Sgt. Howiosn had
radioed for more assistance. As a result, Ebautx 8 or 9 other scout cars had arrived at the
scnene. Men from the scout cars were holding people "loff the pavement and away from the
blind pig and the patrol wagons. These acars were left at the same as Howicson departed.
He had not seen any scuffling, nor had he noticed anything unusual enough to believe that
anything
fu~ther
would come of this situation. At the station, Howison and his men were
occupied w:th paper work for two hours and were away from
no knowledge of how th e situation developed •
police radios, and so had